Body Fever (1969)
By Andrew Haworth • Jan 27th, 2008 • Category: DVD ReviewsGuilty Pleasures / Anamorphic Widescreen (1.66:1) / Color / 1 disc / 78 minutes
There are two good reasons to watch Ray Dennis Steckler’s BODY FEVER: Carolyn Brandt in a snake-skin catsuit; and Steckler himself in a toupee.
Labeled as a “nifty detective movie set in the sordid underworld of drug trafficking and prostitutes,” BODY FEVER (1969) doesn’t quite live up to that description, but it’s a fun romp nonetheless. Originally known as THE LAST ORIGINAL ‘B’ MOVIE, and alternately, SUPER COOL, Steckler (RAT PFINK A BOO BOO, LEMON GROVE KIDS MEET THE MONSTERS, among others…) wrote, directed and starred in his only foray into the detective genre.
Steckler’s ex-wife Brandt plays Carrie Erskine, a cat burglar of sorts, who has ripped off $150,000 worth of heroin from a drug boss. Before she can complete the job the drugs are stolen from her. A henchman of drug kingpin Big Mack hires down-and-out detective Charles Smith (played with excellent self-deprication by Steckler) to track down Erskine. Before long Smith is hot on Erskine’s trail, and fighting off multiple double-crossing thugs in search of the drug stash.
BODY FEVER isn’t the most exciting film, but it has its moments. The majority of the film is Smith wandering around California interviewing sleazy photographers, models, nightclub owners and drug users in his search for Erskine, with the occasional footchase, nudity and fistfight to liven things up.
Steckler’s Humphrey Bogart-worshipping detective offers enough laughs to keep the story alive. His monologues on love and life are priceless: “Whoever heard of a chick waking up and looking like that. Not a hair out of place. I like a funky broad who lets you know what a real rotten night’s sleep she’s had.”
Brandt sits out most of the film’s first act, but when she does materialize she emerges like a Bond girl — in a black catsuit dancing like a stripper. It’s mostly eye-candy though. She doesn’t have a lot of dialog or screen time and phones in a lackluster performance compared to Steckler’s.
In typical Steckler fashion, he employs mostly unknown actors. The exception here is Coleman Francis, who plays Smith’s lone confidante, the penniless laundry owner Coley. “People kept coming in here and stealing my soap and using phony nickels and quarters. You can’t pay rent with a phony quarter”. Francis, who died shortly after working on BODY FEVER, is known for directing THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS, and starring in a range of TV and film roles from the 1940s into the 1970s. He was also in the Steckler-produced films, THE THRILL KILLERS and LEMON GROVE KIDS. His last credited role was the “rotund drunk” from Russ Meyer’s BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.
While Steckler was successful in creating a noir film in BODY FEVER, ultimately, the narrative gets convoluted by the constant double-crossing and storyline twists. By the end of the film I was as discombobulated as Smith and yet I didn’t really care. Smith gets the girl, punches out some bad guys along the way and all is right in the world. It’s a little dry in some places and not nearly as shocking and seedy as the packaging would indicate.
Still, there are worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.
The film is presented by Guilty Pleasures and offers a generous assortment of bonus materials on the DVD including interviews with Steckler and Brandt, color footage “from the vaults” of RAT PFINK A BOO BOO and the “lost” short film, GOOF ON THE LOOSE. My favorite feature is Steckler’s own commentary track on BODY FEVER, in which the master offers his insightful ramblings as a producer of independant low-budget B-movies.
Picture quality is dark and scratchy, but generally OK. I found the audio muffled and low in volume though.
I give BODY FEVER two stars. It’s getting rough.
Check out reviews of other Ray Dennis Steckler films here at Shameful Cinema:
All four of these films are available in the Midnight Movies II box set from Media Blasters at a very reasonable price. Highly recommended!
Check out a trailer of BODY FEVER below:
Andrew Haworth is the editor of Shameful Cinema. After working as a print journalist for the better part of 10 years, he now produces Internet videos for a large daily newspaper and is a habitual freelance/fine art photographer.
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